In the field of aviation and general aviation—unless a pilot restricts him or herself to flying locally at a departure airport—a pilot operates an aircraft to fly from a departure airport, such as the pilot's home airport, to a destination airport along a route selected by the pilot. Many times, for example, a general aviation pilot may have a destination airport in mind but the flight required is beyond the local area of a pilot's home airport, e.g., beyond 50 nautical miles. In such case, the pilot may be unfamiliar with the route and/or destination airport. Other times a pilot may not even have a destination airport in mind and may desire to fly to a new destination airport previously un-flown route. For example, the term “hundred-dollar hamburger” is slang in aviation for an excuse a general aviation pilot might use to fly to a new or a known destination airport. Such a flight typically involves flying a short, or sometimes long, distance to a destination airport, stopping and eating a meal at an airport restaurant, and then flying back to the pilot's home airport. The term originally referred to the approximate cost of renting or operating a light general aviation aircraft, such as a Cessna 172, to fly round-trip to a nearby airport. E.g., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/$100_hamburger, and contents therein.
Whether a pilot has a known destination airport, a new destination airport in mind, or has not yet chosen a destination airport for a flight, the pilot is required to conduct flight planning prior to each flight according to Federal Aviation Regulations (“FARs”). For example, FAR 91.103 says: “Each pilot in command shall, before beginning a flight, become familiar with all available information concerning that flight. This information must include: (a) For a flight under IFR or a flight not in the vicinity of an airport, weather reports and forecasts, fuel requirements, alternatives available if the flight cannot be completed, and any known traffic delays of which the pilot in command has been advised by ATC; (b) For any flight, runway lengths at airports of intended use, and the following takeoff and landing distance information: (1) For civil aircraft for which an approved Airplane or Rotorcraft Flight Manual containing takeoff and landing distance data is required, the takeoff and landing distance data contained therein; and (2) For civil aircraft other than those specified in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, other reliable information appropriate to the aircraft, relating to aircraft performance under expected values of airport elevation and runway slope, aircraft gross weight, and wind and temperature.” In flight planning, a pilot selects a route to the destination airport with appropriate waypoints or airways. The pilot, among other things: calculates the amount of fuel required to complete the trip; checks for compliance with air traffic control requirements; checks for clearance from terrain and structures near takeoff and landing areas; considers potentials for mid-air collisions; and avoids restricted or prohibited areas of flight and the like. In addition to these hazards issues, a pilot making a flight plan may attempt to minimize overall flight costs by selecting the most efficient route, height, and speed for the aircraft type and sometimes seek to load the minimum necessary fuel, plus a safety reserve, on board, to maximize flight efficiencies. For flights having a longer duration, fixed base operators (“FBOs”) having disparate prices for aviation fuel for sale to pilots are utilized at airports along the way.
Since the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, pilots may desire direct routes for certain flights. Quite often, however, there are factors that should be considered that may make a direct flight undesirable. Mountainous terrain, restricted airspace, prohibited airspace, military operating areas (“MOAs”), and temporary flight restrictions (“TFRs”), for example, present obstacles to direct flights. In single-engine aircraft, pilots should give consideration to circumnavigating large, desolate areas or large bodies of water. Pilots should also consider the single-engine service ceiling of multiengine aircraft when operating over high altitude terrain since the terrain elevation may be higher than the single-engine ceiling of the multiengine aircraft being flown, e.g., a multiengine aircraft with a single-engine service ceiling of 6,000 feet cannot fly a route with terrain at 9,000 feet elevation. Precise flight planning of log items, such as pre-computed courses, time, distance, navigational aids, and frequencies to be used will make enroute errors in these items less likely. Special attention should be given to fuel requirements, keeping in mind the need for an ample reserve as well as location of refueling points available as the preflight progresses. A booklet known as the Airport/Facility Directory, published by the National Ocean Service, lists airports, seaplane bases, and heliports open to the public, as well as communications data, navigational facilities, and certain special notices such as parachute jumping. Flight Service Station (“FSS”)/National Weather Service (“NWS”) telephone numbers, preferred routes, and aeronautical chart bulletins. In addition, pilots should check with the nearest FSS for an update on the latest Notices to Airmen (“NOTAMs”). Pilots should avail themselves of all appropriate charts and publications, including the Airman's Information Manual (“AIM”) and NOTAMs. A weather briefing is an important part of preflight planning. An overview of the synoptic situation and general weather conditions can be obtained from public media (radio, TV, etc.) or by telephone from recorded sources to help the pilot to better understand the overall weather picture when obtaining a complete briefing from a FSS. Information on weather sources is contained in the Meteorology chapter of the AIM, available from faa.gov. For example, accurate weather forecasts are desired to allow for accurate fuel consumption calculations based on effects of head or tail winds and air temperature. Aircraft flying IFR in controlled airspace may be required to follow predetermined routes known as airways, even if such routes are not as economical as a more direct flight. Additionally, the performance of each different aircraft type varies based on altitude, air pressure, temperature and weight. When attempting to formulate an efficient flight plan, one quickly discovers that a large number of decisions and calculations are required in order to formulate an effective flight plan. Many flight plans follow routes at available altitudes which have the most favorable current or forecast weather conditions. However, sometimes these are not the most efficient routes under varying circumstances. Flight planning will benefit from accurate and up-to-date information share by other pilots.
In addition to a pilot performing flight planning prior to a flight, a pilot (or a flight's dispatcher or controller) may or may not file a flight plan document (in paper or electronic form) with the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) or with a foreign civil aviation authority. When used, these flight plan documents typically are filed (via in person, electronically or telephone) prior to the flight's departure from the departure airport, although a pilot may file a flight plan in flight as well via radio. A flight plan in the United States generally includes departure date, time, and a departure and a destination airport, and a route, including any waypoints with proper FAA identifiers. In addition, a flight plan includes the aircraft identification or registration (a.k.a. the aircraft's tail number, for example. “N56783”) and aircraft type (e.g., “TOBA” for a Socata TB200 aircraft), an estimated time enroute, a listing of alternate airports for use in the event of bad weather, the type of flight (either instrument flight rules (“IFR”) or visual flight rules (“VFR”), pilot's name, and the number of persons on board the aircraft. For IFR flights, flight plans are used by air traffic control to initiate tracking and routing services. For VFR flights, their only purpose is to provide needed information should search and rescue operations be required, or for use by air traffic control when flying in a “Special Flight Rules Area.” In the United States, flight plans are required for all flights flown under IFR. After an IFR flight plan is activated and an IFR clearance (and an IFR release if necessary) is obtained from air traffic control, air traffic control may initiate radar tracking and routing services for the aircraft either under its flight number or aircraft registration that was provided in the flight plan. For VFR flying, a pilot is not required to file a flight plan with the FAA unless the flight's path will cross national borders. Flight plans are recommended for VFR flights because they provide a way of alerting rescuers if the flight is overdue at its destination airport, and they can enable a service known as “flight following” that utilizes ATC radar to warn of other nearby air traffic enroute. Pilots flying VFR routes, however, do not commonly file flight plans.
The prior art includes known means for pilots to obtain information about new airport destinations, or to obtain information used to perform flight planning but such prior art systems are limited. For example, a simple means is that known as “hangar flying.” This term originated from the hangar building where aircraft are maintained or stored. Starting from the early days of flying, when the weather was poor for example, local pilots sat around a coffee pot and talked about flying. The topics of these informal gatherings ranged from regulations, techniques, flight instruction, and flying in general. Pilots may discuss flights he or she has taken. In addition, a pilot may utilize folding paper navigational charts on which a pilot can mentally review his or her intended route of flight. The pilot may draw a line on the chart representing the true course, and review the projected path across the face of the chart for the location of good checkpoints, restricted areas, obstructions, other flight hazards, and suitable airports. For VFR flight, pilot planning by either pilotage or dead reckoning may be done utilizing a chart known as the Sectional Aeronautical Chart, which is scaled at 1/500,000, or 8 miles to the inch. The physical characteristics of most landmarks are shown in detail and the pilot identifies selected landmarks along the route of flight. Another chart is the World Aeronautical Chart (“WAC”), with a scale of 1/1,000,000, or 16 mile to the inch. Many U.S. states print also aeronautical charts for VFR navigation within their state boundaries. E.g., http://avstop.com/technical/preflight/preflight.htm.
A sectional chart is a two-sided chart created from a Lambert Conformal Conic Projection with two defined standard parallels. The scale is 1:500,000, with a contour interval of 500 feet. The size of each sectional is designed to be “arm's width” when completely unfolded. The “northern” half of the section is on one side of the chart, and the “southern” on the obverse. The edges between north and south are designed with a calibrated overlap that permits plotting extensions of course lines from one side to the other, once the user has scribed a corresponding “match line” on each side. All other edges are truncated at a predetermined size. White space around the chart is filled with map information and the legend, scales, and tables of airport and airspace information. Terrain is color-coded for its elevation and major roads, cities, and bodies of water are shown for visual reference, as well as other identifiable structures (e.g., stadiums and water towers). However, most of the layers of data on the charts include specific information about obstacles, airspace designations, and facility information (locations, radio frequencies, etc.). The legend divides these into several types of information, namely: airports, radio aids, traffic and airspace services, obstructions, topographic, and miscellaneous. Other unusual features may be designated on the map with symbols that do not appear in the legend, such as areas where laser lights are routinely pointed into the air (a jagged-edged circle), or a wildlife protection area (a solid line with dots along the inside edge). The location of each airport and presence of control towers is indicated with a circle, or with an outline of the hard-surfaced runways (if over 8,069 feet long). Blue shows an airport with a control tower and magenta for others. Military airstrips (without hard-surface runways) are shown with two concentric circles. Private airports are shown with the letter “R” inside a circle. A heliport is designated with “H” in a circle. An unverified airstrip is shown with a “U” in a circle. An abandoned airport with paved runways is shown with a circle having an “X” over it.
The prior art also includes general reference to electronic means related to aircraft flights, such as U.S. Pat. No. 8,266,547 which relates to a graphical user interface for a travel planning system. U.S. Pat. No. 8,521,342 relates to a system, a method and a computer program for recording technical issues of an aircraft, for use during flight tests on board of the aircraft. A client unit sends an access request to a server, which receives and processes this request, permits access to the data and restricts the adding or modifying processing of the data to one client unit at a time. U.S. Pat. No. 7,779,023 relates to an internet website which presents a hierarchical menu structure to users includes a personalization engine to automatically modify the menu structure for each user. U.S. Pat. No. 7,668,744 relates to a fleet engine, a crew engine, a passenger engine and an integration engine that communicate with a distributed computer network via two-way communication channels to monitor and repair disruptions to schedules particularly in the airline industry. When a disruption occurs, the method will produce a plurality of solutions that are structurally different for evaluation by the controller or operations manager. U.S. Pat. No. 7,786,899 relates to flight tracking and a computer-implemented system where a plurality of flight information is received over a digital network and is stored in at least a database. The database includes aviation information as well as aviation related content and advertisements. In addition, the user may create personalized messages and status update for display in response to a variety of flight conditions. For example, a user is able to select a set of flights from a set of flights scheduled for arrival/departure from a designated airport/facility that typically are not regularly scheduled commercial flights. A customized display is then presented on a monitor operated by the user which presents the information in a value added format that is triggered or sequenced based on flight tracking data. Value added information can include an automatic instruction for the line crew to get the fuel truck, or for the ground transportation services to be called, as a condition of the estimated time of arrival. Similarly, it can include advertisements related to the flight information such that some advertisements are shown only before arrival and others only after arrival or shortly before departure.
In addition, electronic systems have been developed which provide flight planning and navigational information to a pilot but such prior art systems are also limited. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,380,366 simply concerns an apparatus having a graphical touch screen for flight planning and navigation of an aircraft by a pilot. U.S. Pat. No. 8,185,298 relates to hybrid-heuristic optimization of competing portfolios of flight paths for flights through one or more sectors of an airspace represented by an air traffic system. In addition, there are electronic systems which are generally accessed by users from local computers via a telecommunications network, such as cellular telephone, wired telecommunications, short-range wireless, or a combination thereof. Such systems sometimes are known as flight planning tools, and are accessible through well-known commercial providers of flight planning information for general and commercial aviation navigation such as Foreflight, flightaware.com, aimav.com, duats.com, or skyvector.com, for example. A course line may be provided by skyvector.com, for example, to a user in the form of a line generated by a computer on electronic navigational charts. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 8,447,512 relates to a process for generating computer flight plans on the Internet with the elements of: a raw XY&Z database of chart data, a database containing aircraft data, a software system to create VFR, IFR and road charts, an Internet web site accessible by a client computer, a software system which computes flight plans requested by the client computer, a software system which allows for navigation data and aircraft editing by means of the Internet web site client computer, and a software system which allows for outputting flight plans by means of the Internet web site client computer. These systems, however, are limited in the information they may provide a pilot trying to select a new destination airport, or trying to determine a practical route to fly as recommended by other pilots familiar with the route and/or destination airport, for example. Also, such electronic systems do not disclose or teach a database created by utilizing routes selected for sharing with pilot users by other pilot users, linking pilot user comments to a displayed route, e.g., relating to hazards, terrain, obstacles, favorites, or permit interactive discussion by pilots of a displayed route, for example.
Also, for example, prior art U.S. Pat. No. 8,214,144 of Flightaware relates to a computer-implemented system and method for the processing and optimization of flight plans. Information regarding a plurality of previous flight plans is received over a digital network and is stored in at least a database. The database preferably includes aviation fuel price information, aircraft performance information, and aviation weather information as well. Upon receiving a request, a server generates at least an optimized portion of a flight plan. In one form, historical flight plan data of others is automatically used to aid in a computer determination of the optimized route offered to the user for review, with the resulting final flight plan being electronically filed with the FAA upon approval. In a further form, the user may arrange fuel transactions at intermediate destinations with the service provider receiving a fee in exchange for facilitating the transaction. This prior art system, however, does not disclose or teach a database created by utilizing routes selected for use by other pilot users, linking pilot user comments to a displayed route, or permit interactive discussion by pilots of a displayed route, for example. Also, for example, this prior art system utilizes an unintelligent database, e.g., it utilizes a database made indiscriminately from all filed flight plans (including those amended enroute by FAA changes) and radar followed aircraft for any given period of time such as a day or any fraction or multiplier thereof (which could include thousands or tens of thousands of flight plans), and/or calculates an optimized route for the flight based upon aircraft performance data, available fuel costs, and current or forecast aviation weather. Such a structure is not particularly useful for airport destination selection and route selection by a pilot.
Also, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,296,281 of Flightaware relates to a computer-implemented system and method processes flight position information and provides a notification to a remote user in response to a triggering event. Typically, flight position data is received over a digital network. The service accepts requests for notification based upon the position of a specified flight and subsequently provides that notification based upon the flight position data. Upon receiving a user query, a server retrieves a result set from the flight position data and determines if the triggering criteria has been met. In one form, the requested notification may be presented to the user in the form of an e-mail, telephone call, text message or the like. Also disclosed is a system for flight tracking or planning which includes photographs supplied by remote users of the aircraft for which the tracking or planning is associated, for use by other remote users that see the association of the supplied photos with the tracked or planned flight. Also disclosed is a social system for use with flight tracking or planning which allows affiliated users to share information to the exclusion of other non-affiliated users.
The system of the '281 patent and other similar prior art systems however, are limited. For example, information is accessible by aircraft registration or flight number not by pilot user or pilot identifier. In addition to the above shortcomings, the database of information is not intelligently built, for example. As discussed in the '281 patent, the FAA made a wealth of minute-by-minute flight-tracking information available for distribution to the public with the creation of the Aircraft Situation Display to Industry (“ASDI”) service, staring in 1995. Through this service, with the exception of a request by an owner or operator to block particular aircraft, flight tracking data is made available to several vendors who are subsequently able to provide information in a value-added format to their subscribers or other users. The ASDI information includes location, altitude, airspeed, origin, destination, estimated time of arrival and tail number or designated identifier of air carrier and general aviation aircraft operating on at least the corresponding IFR flight plans within U.S. airspace. General aviation VFR flights that include air traffic control flight following are often included. Traditional subscribers include flight departments, charter operators, limousine firms, airframe and power plant manufacturers, air carriers, FBOs, research firms, and other users. For example, without ASDI information an aircraft service provider may not reliably know much in advance as to when food service or fuel would need to be delivered for incoming flights, so as to give its employees time to prepare just enough in advance as to have the food at the right temperature and condition, and the fuel truck in position, at the appropriate time, but with a minimum of waiting. In a similar manner, a casual user could not receive reliable advance notification as to when to leave to go to the airport to meet or pick up someone from an arriving flight so that neither would need to wait on the other. With the advent of this structure, a number of subscribers and other users were able to obtain valuable flight information and increase the efficiency and reliability of their services. This prior art system, while describing accessing information from remote users, does not teach or describe the novel and inventive system disclosed herein. For example, this prior art system instead discloses users only supplying what it calls “content segments” associated with a geographic location; these “content segments” are not routes of flight of a user, waypoints, or even comments on such a route of flight, but are disclosed only as reviews of an FBO reviews of a caterer, or reviews of a limousine provider located on or servicing a selected airport, or information regarding an entity similar to an FBO, caterer or limousine provider, for routes of flight this system is tied and limited to a database of routes of flight built up en masse from the ASDI service.
In addition to shortcomings previously discussed, because these prior art electronic systems rely upon a database built up, e.g., en masse from the ASDI service or other similar sources, the database of information is not intelligently built or selective in the routes retained in its databases, and accordingly can be both over-inclusive and under-inclusive in their dataset of flight plans and/or routes of other pilots. Such shortcomings, for example, greatly limit their usefulness for a pilot desiring information for a new destination airport and desiring information for a new, previously unknown route to a destination airport. For example, these prior art electronic systems do not necessarily provide access to historical routes for entire trips, only routes for what is filed or provided by the FAA or ASDI service. A pilot (dispatcher or controller), for example, may file a flight plan with the FAA for an airport that is only intermediate to his or her destination, then fly another leg to the destination airport. Also, a pilot my file a flight plan, e.g. IFR flight plan, for one leg, but fly VFR and not file a flight plan for a second, third or final leg. Or a pilot may fly to a destination airport solely VFR and file no flight plan (or obtain no radar flight following) at all. A system with a database such as that built from the ADSI service will not account for these omissions, and does not concern itself with such flights because it was not designed by the FAA for that purpose—it only includes those flights for which IFR flight plans are activated and tracked and/or for VFR flights the receive flight following. On the other hand, an equally vexing shortcoming is that such a prior art system then includes, robotically, without selection, all such flights in its database. Because prior art electronic systems are automatic, robotic in their collection of data from FAA databases or the like, these systems do not know that multiple flight plans may be involved in a pilot's route to a destination airport, nor will such systems know whether the collected flight plan is only an incomplete part of a route. Likewise, for these prior art electronic systems, if a flight does not have a filed flight plan or radar flight following, the flight's route does not get collected into the prior art electronic systems database, e.g., because the flight's route is not in the FAA's data. Such a prior art system may include another pilot's destination airport and route information without such pilot having even used such system or even knowing that it has been collected en masse for inclusion in a database.
Other prior art electronic systems provide a pilot only limited information, such as through a basic message board. Still other prior art systems, such as socialflight.com and adventurepilot.com, provide event or e.g. restaurant, airport or point of interest information, listed or displayed on an automobile or other non-aviation type map. While such systems identify a destination with airport identifiers and reader comments on a destination, they do not provide access by a pilot user to route information with FAA (or ICAO) waypoints, airway identifiers that have been selected by other pilot users, or access to route information of other pilot users linked to a destination attraction, or access to pilot information, route comments by other pilot users. Also, for example, even this basic information is cumbersome to use because these systems permit users who are not pilots to select information for inclusion in the database, creating a system that is an advertising billboard rather than a useful database of destinations linked with route information (nor pilot discussion of route information, hazards, altitudes, waypoints, etc.) of other pilot users for an pilot user.
In addition, such systems are not structured to provide routes or useful route information, and can be nearly useless for flight planning, or even hazardous for flight planning. For example, such systems can provide a user a list of destinations that are over 500 or more nautical miles away from a desired airport, regardless if another pilot has flown to that destination from an pilot's desired departure (e.g. home) airport; and in any event the database is not structured for entry by other pilots of route waypoints, route information, hazards, airspace or altitude information, for example. Included destinations are not selected for database entry dependent on a particular departure airport (e.g., your home airport), or with regard to a particular route of another pilot, or whether another pilot has even flown to such destination from your airport. An imaginary line on a map to a destination airport is generated by a query to a computer, e.g., by adventurepilot.com, as a route rather than a route selected and actually flown by another pilot, for example. This imaginary route can depict a line through restricted airspace, over miles of water, or into hazardous terrain, e.g., through mountainous terrain, that exceeds the flight capability of an aircraft rendering it useless for flight planning. As a result, such systems are cumbersome to use, and are unreliable, very limited or even hazardous in assisting a pilot user in considering flight destinations, e.g., for cross country flight, and do not add to flight planning safety or ease of mind. In addition to the above shortcomings, such systems do not allow access to pilot user logbook information or provide tail number information, for example.
Prior art systems and their shortcomings do not obviate the need of a pilot to start from scratch, so to speak, every time a general aviation pilot desires to select a new airport destination and select a new route related thereto, with linked pilot comments on route, destination, etc. Other aspects of such prior art systems add to their limits and inconvenience if used. These systems are difficult for a user to access and collect information for flight planning, for example, because the systems do not carry the desired information in its database, or if it is in a database it is obscured by other information. Because the systems are discrete, they do not include all components, including the route, new airport destination, attraction, other pilot comments, or selective building of a database. Therefore, there is a need for a routing and information system that continually provides access to up-to-date, correct geographic information by a local user. There is a further need for a routing and information system which can be implemented on handheld, portable devices for easy, convenient transportation and use. There is a further need for a routing and information system which is independent of any particular hardware configuration and which may be implemented on any suitably equipped data processing apparatus, such as a desktop personal computer, a laptop computer, a personal digital assistant, tablet computer or mobile telephone computer. There is a further need for a routing and information system which provides communication between mobile units and a base unit over any available channel, including wireless, wireline, and optical channels. There is a still further need for a data communication protocol for providing accurate, reliable communication in such a system, independent of hardware configuration and in a compact form.
These prior art systems have many drawbacks, however, which have prevented widespread use as a tool by general aviation pilots to aid them in selecting airport destinations and routes. Information is discrete to a site or system and unlinked to other information and, even if available, is only potentially available after a cumbersome search of multiple sites or systems, and what information is available is cluttered and unorganized, based on a gross collection of data rather than pilot user selected data, and many times directed only to needs of commercial airline operators and operations rather than general aviation pilots. The present disclosure solves these shortcomings as well as other problems that pilots face when collecting flight information from other pilots, particularly related to airport destinations, routes and attractions. The present disclosure solves a number of these inefficiencies as well as other problems present in the process of flight planning, as are illustrated in the descriptions that follow.